But Anti-tax Sentiments Brewing Against Schaumburg Township Plan

With past tax hike proposals getting a thumbs down in recent elections, they're asking voters this November for a new library building with no tax increase to replace the current facility that already has been renovated and still is bursting at the seams.

Library Board President Jack Lucas said the time is finally right this year to try for a new library because seven acres of land became available in Town Square at Schaumburg and Roselle Roads.

"It is probably a once in a lifetime thing for us because, if we miss this window, I don't think there will be another property available in the center of Schaumburg Township that would give us this much space," Lucas said.

In the last month, library officials have taken their show on the road in an attempt to win over the support of other local governments, including some of the six communities served by the library.

The proposal asks voters whether the district can sell $18 million in bonds to cover much of the cost of a new $23.5 million library that, at 120,000 square feet, would nearly double the size of the current one at 32 Library Lane.

As for holding the line on taxes, Lucas explained that next year will be the last time the district can levy 5 cents per $100 of assessed value for the library's working cash fund. If voters give the nod, that same amount would be levied for the district's building fund to retire the $18 million debt.

The remaining $5.5 million would come from reserve funds that would be replenished with the sale of the current building, appraised at $6 million.

Thus far, library officials have said the proposal has encountered little, if any, opposition. But one critic, Schaumburg Taxpayers United, soon will change that, according to president Jerry Aspito who also leads the Northwest Tax Watch.

Aspito said his group will be circulating pamphlets close to election day to defeat the referendum because the library still has room for expansion and the group does not believe taxes won't rise.

"We are not against reading, we are not against books, we are not against use of the library, but it seems to me we just had a major renovation to this library not too terribly long ago, and now we are asked to build a new one," Aspito said.

That 1986 expansion brought the library up to 79,000 square feet. It still has the potential of another 20,000 more, but Lucas argued that a third addition would be a patchwork solution.

Aspito also dismissed the library's contention that a new library can be accomplished without a tax hike and said it's likely that initial cost projections won't hold up.

"When have you ever seen a government-built project cost less or what it was supposed to? You and I both know it will raise taxes, I think, because we've seen taxes do nothing but go up," he said.

Also holding a stake in the referendum is the Village of Schaumburg, which bought the 29-acre Town Square site earlier this year for $7.5 million with the intent of creating a downtown. The library, which would buy land from the village, is a key draw that would make the concept work.

Lucas said the new building would enable the library to meet space demands to house computers that patrons increasingly demand. The Town Square site also would give the chance for outdoor programs at an open-air amphitheater planned for the site.